This Issue
Your Favorite Northern Wilds Adventures
| Category | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park | Tettegouche | Cascade | Gooseberry |
| Scenic Overlook | Palisade | Hawk Ridge | Mount Josephine |
| Hiking Trail | Superior Hiking Trail | Oberg Mountain | |
| Waterfall | High Falls/Pigeon River | Gooseberry | Devil's Kettle |
| Beach | Park Point | Paradise | Brighton |
| Rock Picking Spot | Agate Bay | Temperance River | Thompsonite Beach |
| Campground | Tettegouche | Split Rock | BWCAW |
| Ski Trail | Banadad | Pincushion | Korkki |
| Fall Color Drive | Caribou Trail | Honeymoon Trail | Heartbreak Hill |
| Festival | Grand Marais Fisherman's Picnic | Grand Portage Rendezvous Days | Ely Blueberry Festival |
| Bike Trail | Mesabi | Gitchi Gami | Munger |
| Fishing Hole | "I'll Never Tell" | ||
| Day Trip | Grand Marais | Grand Portage | Gunflint Trail |
| Wild Food | Blueberries | Raspberries | Wild Rice |
We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the 2012 Adventure Awards. We plan to have another reader participation event this summer. But for now, pour a cup of coffee and sit down to enjoy this issue of Northern Wilds. You won’t have to leave your favorite armchair to find plenty of adventures. —Shawn Perich & Amber Pratt
Wild North: Shawn Perich
Points North: Fishing Home Waters on a Backyard Holiday
Kadunce Creek was kind to me. The big rainbow trout we call steelhead, newly arrived from the depths of Lake Superior, were unwary and willing to bite. In a half hour of fishing I hooked three of them, even though the water temperature was an icy 34 degrees. It seemed a good omen for a five-day fishing holiday. more...
Kadunce Creek was kind to me. The big rainbow trout we call steelhead, newly arrived from the depths of Lake Superior, were unwary and willing to bite. In a half hour of fishing I hooked three of them, even though the water temperature was an icy 34 degrees. It seemed a good omen for a five-day fishing holiday. more...
Features
Thundering and Wild: Kakabeka Falls & Its Cozy Country Village Next Door
A 20-minute drive west of Thunder Bay takes you to Ontario’s second largest waterfall, thundering Kakabeka Falls, one that many have said is more spectacular than the famous Niagara Falls. Canadian painter Paul Kane wrote in 1846 that not only was Kakabeka Falls more splendid than Niagara but that the "scenery surrounding them is infinitely more wild and romantic." more...
Rose Falls by an Unusual Approach
Rose Falls has the feel of an ancient place — if you touch one of the massive cedars it might awaken from a long sleep and say something profound in an eerie voice. Here gravity pulls water out of Duncan Lake through a narrow cut in the rocks, cascading 136 feet closer to our planet’s center. All of us have access to this rare, raw power. more...
All in the Name of Trails
Martin Kubik, who formed the Kekekabic Trail Club in 1990, doesn’t mind playing hardball when it comes to his passion. While he is but one of hundreds of volunteers who help maintain trails in the Superior National Forest, his contribution to trail building here is bigger than most. more...
The Accidental Gardener: Join a CSA and Eat Fresh
Locally grown food is so wonderful — it’s fresh, it’s delicious and, more often than not, it’s organically grown and chemical-free.
Many gardeners in the Northern Wilds know this very well — their backyards provide them with lots of fresh vegetables every year.
more...Smelt, a Spring Taste Treat
To say everything I know about smelt I learned in kindergarten might be an overstatement, but my memories of the small, silvery fish begin there. One sunny April day, Mom and Dad picked me up at school when kindergarten got out for the day. We drove to the Lester River, on the eastern edge of Duluth. more...
Cook County Menu Guide
Gallery
Just in From the City of Thunder Bay! Videos from Thunder Bay Tourism showcasing summer and fall. more...
Reviews
For those of you that use glow lures when ice fishing, the Lure Lightning charge light will come in handy. The compact light actually replaces one of the nobs on your flasher unit, keeping it at hand. The push of a rubber-insulated button illuminates five 3-watt ultraviolet SMD lights, giving any jig or lure a long-lasting charge. It comes equipped with positive and negative leads, allowing it to run right off a flasher battery pack. The light retails for $33.95. www.lurelightning.com — Javier Serna more...
NiteIze has really great lights for dog owners who take their pets out after dark. This winter, my dogs are wearing the SpotLit LED Collar Light and the Nite Dawg Collar Cover. My rangy yellow Lab has the surprisingly bright, red Collar Light, making him easy to see as he roams around our expansive backyard. Attached to his collar with a strong carabiner clip, the Collar Light has survived frequent runs in the woods. My older, less energetic husky-shepherd is wearing the Collar Cover, an illuminated strip that is somewhat obscured by her heavy fur. It easily attached to her collar with Velcro and would be fully visible on a flat-furred dog. Both lights have glow and flash modes. MSRP on the SpotLit is $7.19 and the Nite Dawg LED collar cover is $11.99. www.Niteize.com — Shawn Perich more...
On a pair of canoe trips this past fall, it was clear that my dog was uncomfortably cold. I ended up wrapping her in my rain jacket as we floated one river in October, but that was still far from ideal. I wish I had Ruffwear’s K-9 overcoat, an insulated dog coat that handles cold weather well, as it has done this winter. It keeps her warm without restricting her movements. She hasn’t tried to take it off. The shell is made of 100 percent recycled fabric and is abrasion- and snag-resistant. It is lined with fleece, though the fleece showing here is actually Ruffwear’s Climate Changer fleece sweater (not included). The coat retails for $64.95. www.ruffwear.com — Javier Serna more...
An amazing amount of cookwear and tableware fits inside this compact cookset, which is designed for backpackers, but would be welcome in any camping pack. A 2-liter pot and 8-inch frypan made of hard anodized aluminum stood up to the high-output flames of a cast iron burner inside a Lake of the Woods sleeper house. It also comes with a strainer lid, a pair of insulated mugs with sip tops, a pair of 14-ounce bowls, and a folding pot gripper which all fits compactly into a black sack that doubles as a wash sink. It retails for $89.95. www.gsioutdoors.com — Javier Serna more...
MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS, $24.95
This is a reprint of the classic tale of the 1930 canoe expedition from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay, written by Eric Sevareid, who was joined by Walter C. Port on the summer-long voyage. The two men relied on Cree Indians, traders and locals when they needed food, shelter and guidance. Sevareid corresponded with newspapers on this trip, which helped launch his career in journalism. The book was first published in 1935. Here, it’s been repackaged in paperback with a commemorative tin and a fold-out map of the 2,250-mile journey. — Javier Serna
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The iconic Stormy Kromer hat is proudly made in the USA—Michigan, in fact. Made of wool and lined with cotton, they are custom-sized to fit any head. I love the look of this sassy, plaid Northwoods cap. It has ear flaps to block the cold and a brim to keep the glare from my eyes. Stormy Kromer hats come in a variety of colors and styles, including waxed cotton and sun-block versions. The hats retail for $34.99. www.stormykromer.com — Amber Pratt more...